Eccentric-cylinder rotary engine.



N0- 830,46l. PATENTED SEPT. 4, 1906.

- G. W. STANFORD &L. F. SMITH.

BGGENTRIG CYLINDER ROTARY ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED 00w. 20. 1906.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. STANFORD AND LOUIE F. SMITH, OF GROVETON, TEXAS.

ECCENTRlC-CYLINDER ROTARY ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 4, 1906.

Application filed October 20,1905. Serial No. 283.663.

1'0 ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE -W. STAN- FORD and LOUIE F. SMITH, citizensof the United States, residing at Groveton, in the county of Trinity andState of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inEccentric-Cylinder Rotary Engines, of which the following is aspecification.

- Our invention relates to fluid-pressure engines, and particularly tothat class of said engines known as rotary engines.

The object of the present invention is the provision of means formaintaining a continuous and steam-tight contact between the wall of theengine-cylinder and the abutments against which the steam acts to drivethe usual rotary piston.

A further object of the invention is the provision of improvedvalvegearing for con trolling the flow of steam to and from the steamand exhaust ports of the engine.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in thedetailed description which now follows.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal verticalsection of a rotary engine constructed in accordance with the invention,and Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the same.

Like numerals designate similar parts in both of the figures of thedrawings.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 5 designates a hollow casting,which, together with the side plates 6 and 7, forms the enginecylinder.Mounted for rotative movement in said cylinder is a rotary piston 8.Piston 8 is hollow, and one side thereof is closed by a web 9, whichcarries a shaft 10, having its bearing in side plates 6. The oppositeside of piston 8 is partially closed by a flange 11, which carries uponits outer face an annular rib 12, said rib fitting snugly in an annularchannel 13, formed in the inner wall of side plate 7, to thereby providea bearing for piston 8.

The circumferential wall 14 of piston 8 is channeled, as at 15 and 16,for the reception of abutments 17 and 18. Packing-strips 19 and 20 areslidably disposed in slots 21 and 22,formed in said abutments, and areforced into engagement with the inner wall of the engine-cylinder bycoiled springs 23 and 24. Links 25 and 26 are pivoted at 27 and 28 tothe rear ends of abutments 17 and 18. The opposite ends of said linksare pivoted upon a stud 29, which is carried by side plate 7, as isclearly illustrated in Fig. 2.

A cam-disk 30, having a cam-groove 30 formed in its face, serves toimpart reciprocatory movement to a rod 31, which carries anantifriction-roller 31, adapted to rest in camg"r0ove 30, and throughsaid rod and a rocker-arm 32 serves to impart an oscillatory movement toa shaft 33, upon the outer end of which said rocker-arm is secured.Secured by bolts 34 upon the top of the enginecylinder is a hollowcasting 35, which forms the steam-chest of the engine. Shaft 33 has itsbearings in one of the side walls of said casting 35 and carries uponits inner end a segmental gear-wheel 36, the teeth 37 of which mesh withgear-teeth 38, formed upon the upper face of a slide-valve 39, saidslidevalve being arranged to control the flow of steam to steam-port 40and from exhaustport 41.

The operation of the device is as follows: Steam enters the steam-chestthrough the steam-supply pipe 42, passes through the steam-port 40, andimpinges against abutment 18, to thereby impart a rotary movement topiston 8, as will be readily understood. It is in the improved means formaintaining a steam-tight contact between the abutments and the wallsofthe enginecylinder that the present invention resides. It is common toprovide the pistons of rotary engines with abutments which are forcedbeyond the circumferential wall of the piston by springs. Since thedistance to which said abutments must be forced is equal to thedifferencein diameter of the piston and the engine-cylinder, it followsthat the throw or movement of said abutments is considerable, and it hasbeen found to be difficult to provide springs which will force theabutments out from the face of the piston a sufiicient distance and thenpossess power enough to maintain a steam-tight contact between saidabutments and the wall of the engine-cylinder.

By referring to Fig. 2 of the drawings it will be seen that cam-groove30 is of such shape as to actuate the valve 39 twice during eachrevolution of piston 8, to thereby admit steam to the engine-cylinderbehind each of the abutments 17 and 18. These abutments are slidablydisposed in channels 15 and 16 and of course rotate with piston 8.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that simple and eflicientmeans are herein provided for accomplishing the objects of theinvention, but while the various elements shown and described are welladapted to serve the purposes for which they are intended, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited to the precise constructionshown, for changes within the scope of the appended claim may beresorted to without departure therefrom.

Having described our invention, what w claim is i In a rotary engine,the combination with an annular cylinder, of a rotative piston mountedwithin said cylinder and bearing against the inner wall thereof at oneside, said piston being hollow and having an opening formed through oneof the walls thereof, an annular flange formed upon the side wall of thepiston and entering the annular groove formed in the side wall of theengine-cylinder, a shaft extending from the opposite side of the pistonand having its bearing in the Wall of the engine-cylinder, a studprojecting from the wall of the engine-cylinder through an openingformed in the wall of the piston in the interior of said" piston, saidstud being concentric with the inner wall of the enginecylinder,abutments slidably disposed in the peripheral wall of thepiston andlinks connecting said abutments with the stud. In testimony whereof weafiix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE W. STANFORD. LOUIE F. SMITH. Witnesses:

A. M. CAMPBELL, W. S. PosToN.

